CHAPTER NINE: CHIMMY THE SQUIRREL/ CHAPTER TEN: ALIAS JOE

When I entered Tyler's dorm, I was surprised to see only one bed. And it’s very dark and very cold in there. I can feel the cold and suspense aura of his room, it seems like he's living alone in this dorm. But as far as I can remember, the office of the dean won't allow someone to live alone in a dorm. It's a minimum of two and a maximum of four students at one dorm.

I turn around to look at Tyler, "Is this your room?" He nods and smiles.

"You're alone?" He looks at me with surprise and he slowly nods.

"Err, well, sort of..." he adds.

I furrow my eyebrows and chuckle

"What do you mean, sort of?" I asks, as my eyes glance around his room,

"There's only one bed and here but there's one double bunk available..." I said.

Tyler didn't respond, so I stared him in the eye. He faked a smile. I raised my brows and was about to reply.

Suddenly, we hear a small creaking sound.

We both turn to look at the window. And there, I see a squirrel. My eyes widen and I remember that this same squirrel had scared me the other night.

"Chimmy!" Tyler yells, referring to the squirrel who's tapping noisily on the window pane.

I look at Tyler confusedly. He called the squirrel Chimmy. Does that mean that this squirrel is his pet?

"Chimmy?" I ask, without thinking.

Tyler turns to look at me, and he slowly opens the window. Smiling widely, he picks up Chimmy in his hands and show Chimmy to me,

"Meet Chimmy! He's my pet"

My mood soars when I look at Chimmy. He’s very cute, he has huge cheeks. I feel that I could cuddle him to death.

I was just about to touch Chimmy, when he suddenly jumps across to me. Suddenly, I lose my balance and almost fall on the floor but Tyler suddenly grabs my waist, and pulls me closer to him.

I can't think straight. My heart is beating so damn fast. I can feel Tyler's chest and his masculine arms embracing my waist. I can feel my heart beating faster and faster, like a drum in a rock-band, everything around me started to move slowly, I look at Tyler and gulped as I realized that we’re staring at each other. I can't move, I can't even push him away...what’s happening!!

"I'm sorry. Chimmy gets really excited whenever he sees a peanut," Tyler explains.

I can feel his breath on my ears, it gives me goosebumps. I gulp and quickly push him away.

Tyler looks so shocked at what I just did. I gulp once again and look at him.

We are both avoiding each other’s gaze.

I hear myself say, "Ahh... yeah... haha"

I feel so awkward!

Tyler scratches his head and kneels down on the floor.

"That's okay. Uhhmm, the thing is, I lost Chimmy," he said, his eyes casting around, looking for Chimmy.

I join him, kneeling on the floor, as together, we search for Chimmy. That somehow helps to avoid the awkwardness between us.

"Chimmy!" Tyler shouts. I look down to the bed, only to see a big, heavily-built metal case underneath.

Tyler suddenly grabs my arms really tightly.

"Tyler?" I ask him, somewhat shocked.

I see his adam’s-apple moving up and down. He can’t seem to look at me in the eye and he keeps on scratching his nose.

"Did you find Chimmy?", I ask him.

He slowly nods, and forces a smile.

I slowly nod, too. He seems anxious.

"Are you okay?" I ask him. He seems as though he’s had a panic attack. He lowers his head and wipes away his sweat ,

"Yeah, Chimmy is under the cabinet; that's where he sleeps and eats," he explains.

I nod my head again and get back on my feet.

I clear my throat and straighten my clothes "We ought to start the tutor-thing. I have to pass my presentation soon," I said, starting to put out my things,

"Yeah, who’ll be the tutor for today?" he asks.

I look up at him with a strict, quizzical gaze.

"Of course, you'll be the first one to teach me...you already offered to," I whine. He chuckles and shakes his head in disagreement.

"No, no" he says.

I raise one eyebrow, quizzically.

"You'll be my tutor for today; I have English class later," he explains,

"Yes, but I have a math lesson at 7:00!" I protest.

We look at each other for a few moments as though it will somehow help us solve this.

I sigh and close my eyes, feeling a bit stressed.

"Fine" we both say, in unison.

We are now both pointing at each other in the face.

"You were the first one to say 'fine' so you'll be the tutor," I said, smiling at him, sarcastically. He shakes his head and chuckles.

"No, Lara. You were the first to say 'fine'. So c'mon, tutor me,"

I fake a laughed and shake my head, as well.

"No, Tyler, you were the first," I protest again. He shakes his head again and hands me the English textbook.

"No, Lara Williams, you're gonna teach me now 'cause you were the first one to say 'fine'", he shoots back. I laugh and hand him the math book.

"No, Tyler Smith, you, will be teaching me math,"

"No, you'll teach me," he shot back. I sigh, hoping to and stop this silly game. I looked up to ceiling and then look at Tyler again.

"Listen up," I said, hoping to be taken seriously. He looks at me as though he were a child being scolded by his mother.

"Let's do the rock, paper, stick, and stone. Whoever loses the game, will teach today," I offered.

He quickly stands up and nods his head. "Aye, aye, captain!" he yells, a little sarcastically.

With a shake of my head, we start the game.

But it's always a tie, time after time.

"What is this?" I exclaim, irritated.

“argh!”, Tyler responded and we both stop. I glare at him.

"You're copying me!" I yell.

"No, I'm not! why would I copy you when I also want to win?!" he reasoned, I rolled my eyes and packed up my things.

"Let's decide tomorrow; I'm not in the mood," I said. I don’t even bother to close my bag, I quickly leave his room.

Just as I emerged from Tyler’s room, Oli happened to be on his way to our dorm room. He almost spat out the water he was drinking when he saw me emerging from Tyler’s doorway.

I rolled my eyes and quickly entered our own room. Angrily, I slammed the book on my study table and jumped onto my bed.

"LARAAAA!!!" Oli suddenly shouted out.

I covered my ears with the pillows, hoping not to hear Oli's annoying shouts.

"Oli! Shut up!" I hissed. Oli then jumps on my bed and starts shaking me, trying to get my attention.

"What was that, Lara?!" Oli asked, excitedly.

"That was nothing!" I shouted.

I roll over and sit up to face Oli, who is now giving me a mischievous look. I roll my eyes and throw the pillow in his face.

"Don't look at me like that! I said it was nothing!" I yelled, feeling really pissed off.

"It wasn't nothing? You just came out from Tyler's dorm room! Explain! Explain!" he shouts. I sigh and stare into his eyes with my tired face.

I take a deep breath to calm myself. "He was just asking me to help him in English; in return for that, he’s gonna teach me in math," I gently explained to Oli,

He suddenly jumps off the bed, covering his mouth as though he were stopping himself from shouting.

"Girl! Shut up!" he hissed. I rolled my eyes again and let myself fall on the bed,

Oli returns, jumps over to my bed, and hugs me. He even slaps my thighs,

"I don't wanna spoil you, but grrrr, good luck my girl!" he said. I smile as I see how happy Oli is.

I return his hugs. "I'm sorry about earlier, Oli." I apologises. He hugs me more tightly and kisses my forehead. I was in awe to realize that he is indeed a sweet and gentle person; a real softie.

"That's okay," he responded. He sighs and taps my head gently with his hands, "I knew that this day will come, and I know that both you and Zhena wouldn't like him and that you'll be worried for me. I am testing him, Lara. Just give me one month, I'll let him go if he doesn't fulfill his promise that he would change," Oli explains. I slowly nod my head.

"We're just worried. Of course, we want you to be happy. You deserve all the best. Zhena and I are just protecting you. But we cannot interfere with your happiness, Oli. Just so you know, you will always have our back. Whatever happens, Zhena and I will stay with you." I said, my voice full of emotion.

"True, that's what friends are for! We're happy to see you happy, Oli. But we don't want to see you hurting, we're worried" Zhena added, I nod and took a glance on Oli.

"You're like a sister to us, so you better take care of yourself, hmm?" I said,

Oli chuckles and teases me, "You're so dramatic; you should enroll with a drama club!" he joked. I chuckle and pinch his back. He arched his back and we both laughed.

"I'm serious, Oli!!" I said. He laughed and started teasing me again.

And this day is indeed tiring and stressful. But I am thankful that Oli and I are now okay. And I swear to God, that I will protect both Oli and Zhena as much as I can. Even though we had just met, both of them are important to me.

They are like sisters for me, Even if it takes my life to protect them, I will do it.

CHAPTER 10

It’s Saturday, and Oli and I are on our way to Zhena's place.

Oli surprises me with, "Did you know that some people are saying that; Mayor Adam deserves to die?"

I turn to him with a surprised look on my face, "Why would they say that? No one deserves to die," I replied. Oli shrugged and continued driving the car.

"Well, Mayor Adam is corrupt. And Zhena and I know it. In fact, Zhena is well aware of her dad's corruption, but she can't voice it out cos she loves him so much", says Oli.

Suddenly, it occurs to me that alias Joe is somehow helping the town, and I tell Oli so.

Oli nods his head, which I didn't expect. “From what I hear, alias Joe killed Hermon, who was a very dangerous rapist in town. He also killed a guy called Fornin, who had massacred his whole family, leaving a note on Fornin's forehead saying, 'I deserved to die’.”

“Hmmm, useful information”, I replied. Oli nods again.

"And I heard that he stole food from stores and gave it to beggars on the street. In fact, some people saw him giving it".

"Have they seen his or her face?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"How can you see his or her face when they are fully covered?”

“They just knew it's alias Joe because it's a masculine figure and a 6ft tall," Oli replied, “and if it’s not alias Joe, why bother to cover up the face? And, the food that he gave to the beggars are the food that he stole frome stores”

I stare, at the road as I try to let those thoughts sink in.

“But it's still not good to kill or steal, right?"

"Yes, you bet!" Oli exclaimed, steering the car to the left.

And suddenly, we see a huge mansion with thousands of people around it, chit-chatting. Some are crying, some are laughing, and some are drinking teas.

The gates open automatically, as Oli waves his hands to the camera. He parks the car on the left side.

Oli shoots me a smile, a very mischievous smile.

“I’ll park you with Tyler. But let me warn you... Zhena's cousins are hotties!" he commented. I chuckled to Oli as we both started to remove our seatbelts.

I opened the door first and as I stepped onto their parking lot, everyone started to look in our direction. I gulped, feeling very awkward and anxious at the same time.

Oli slams the door closed. I closed my door much more gently. I walk towards Oli, and allow my hand to touch his arm.

Oli looks down towards me. He’s desperately trying his best not to break his very big smile. He mutters "Behave, Lara. Everyone will think that I'm your boyfriend,"

I chuckle and squeeze his arms tighter. "But I'm anxious," I whisper.

He looks down to me and sighs as if he, has no choice but to let me cling to his arms.

We both start walking, and soon everyone is looking at us. Oli doesn't want to be recognized as my boyfriend, is saying to anyone who looks at us, stuff like; "I'm gay, hehe; she's just my friend”.

Eventually, we reach the mansion. With a sigh, he opens the door. And there is Zhena, sitting in front of her dad's coffin, crying, and sobbing,

"Oh, Zhena," I sigh, as I release my hand from Oli’s, and run towards her.

The moment Zhena sees me, she cries and hugs me tightly. Her sobs are making me cry; it's hard to see someone you love sleeping in a coffin. I know because, I, myself have experienced it when my grandma died.

Oli then comes over. He hugs us and we all cry. Eventually, we stop, and release this very emotional embrace.

I look up to see Zhena's father, peacefully asleep on the coffin. He’s an American with a long, pointed nose and long eyelashes. To think, this is the same mayor we used to see on television, almost every week.

Then I spot Zhena's mom. She's a black American, very pretty with a very thin, curvaceous body. No wonder Zhena looks like the bad-ass queen bee of the school!

Her mother is crying. She's sitting beside the coffin, which I find very weird. As I turn to look around, many university students are here. If I am not mistaken, these are the student-athletes. Over on the other side of the room, people from the media are talking to camera in various spots. They seem to be everywhere.

I look over at Zhena again. She's wiping away her tears and trying to calm herself. She can’t talk, but we understand that.

I pat Zhena's back gently, trying to calm her down. She just smiles at me and rests her head on my shoulders.

"We've decided to cremate him," Zhena announces.

"I'm sure he's in a happy place now, Zhena" I said, hoping to make her feel better,

"Isn't he happy with us?" she asks, sadly. I gulp as I hear her voice starting to crack.

"Lara...I would kill alias Joe if I saw him," she murmured, suddenly. I freeze, she is indeed fierce!

I just nod my head so that she cannot see that I’m scared by what she said.

I suddenly hear her sob again, I extend my arms and embrace her. Later on, the priests come to the front and start the mass.

We sit there properly and listen to the mass. I hear many sobs and murmurs. The media are also here, and even body guards.

Zhena's mom told us to stay close to her cos she sometimes hyperventilates when she's stressed. We stay close to Zhena until the night comes. Her mom told us to stay the night here, because it's dangerous for us to travel alone; and she's right.

All of us are now watching the news, listening to the reporter saying that alias Joe has killed an old woman, who happened to be the former governor of the city.

"He has no mercy at all; he's a criminal!" Zhena's mom shouts. I turn to look at Zhena. Both hands are clenched, she's clearly angry toward Alias Joe.

I sigh and look at the news again. Now the police are talking, "We are still investigating , We have sent some agents to observe alias Joe because we already have a hint of who and where he is. But the problem is, we are unsure whether that was him, or perhaps someone who looks like him," the police spokesman stated.

"So, does that mean that you have seen his face?” the reporter suddenly asks. By now, we viewers are rooting for alias Joe’s identity, and listening and waiting, hoping that the police would reveal it, soon.

"As of now, the description of him or her being masculine remains. We also know that the alias Joe is about six feet tall."

"If alias Joe is masculine, then it's a guy, isn't it?" Zhena's mom suddenly asks,

"I'm also confused about that, how come the police cannot find out his gender when he's masculine? It's obviously a boy!" Oli explained, I sigh as I stare at Alias Joe's footage on the screen.

"But alias Joe could be a girl; the person has long hair..." I chipped in as I saw alias Joe's hair poking out a little from under the cap.

"Well, you’re kinda right, Lara", Oli agreed.

Then, Zhena's mom asks a question:

"It has been a year since alias Joe started doing his or her thing. But I can't still understand why isn't he or she caught yet? Why do our police move so slowly?" Zhena's mom asked, close to tears.

"Because maybe the government thinks that he's helping the city in some way," I answered unconsciously.

Oli, standing right beside me, suddenly pinches my arm.

When I turn to look at Oli, he widens his eyes and as I look into those gray eyes, I know that he's warning me.

"What do you mean?", Zhena's mom suddenly asks. I look at her and gulp. And when I turn to look at Zhena he's glaring at me as though there's something wrong with what I’d said.

"Well, I heard that alias Joe killed the most-wanted rapist. And he also killed in revenge the criminal who massacred his whole family” I said, not referring to the fact that alias Joe is also suspected of killing certain corrupt governors.

"It's just a rumor you've heard” Zhena said.

I look deep into her eyes as I am trying to read her emotions.

"Yes, but it actually makes sense," I shot back,

"If that's the case, then why did he or she kill my father who is a governor?" Zhena asks.

I freeze the moment as I see Zhena's tears welling up in her eyes. I gulp and look away.

I know the answer but I can’t tell her...she might get hurt...

Or she might even be offended and get mad at me.

Oli, who is so tense because of the strong aura between us, suddenly laughs and put his arms on my shoulders.

"That's because alias Joe is indeed a criminal...right, Lara?" Oli asks, gently squeezing my shoulders. I slowly nod and smile at Zhena and her mom.

"Of course," I said, and looked at Oli, and then to Zhena again,

"Even though he's helping, he's still a criminal," I said, trying to relieve Zhena's feelings.

I was wrong, I know that. I shouldn't defend a criminal, knowing that he’s committed a crime. It’s illegal and it's not right...but why did I defend him or her to my friends? Was it because I knew that Zhena’s dad is a corrupt? Or was it something else?

I’d almost ended up fighting with Zhena because I was defending that somehow, he’d been helping. But why do I have this strange urge to defend alias Joe?

-to be continued...